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The Return of the Archons (episode)
The Enterprise discovers a planet where the population act like zombies and obey the will of their unseen ruler, Landru. Summary Teaser Lieutenants Sulu and O'Neil are undercover and dispatched to the surface of the planet Beta III to learn what became of the , which disappeared there one hundred years earlier. Recognized as outsiders, they draw the attention of the lawgivers. Pursued, the officers call for beam-out, but O'Neil flees before they are to be beamed up, only Sulu is retrieved, and upon materializing in the 's transporter room, he is in a strange mental state, stating to Captain Kirk that the planet below is "paradise, my friend. Paradise..." Act One Captain Kirk beams down with a larger landing party to investigate. Spock, Dr. McCoy, sociologist , and two guards, Leslie and Galloway, form the balance of the landing party. Immediately upon being beamed down, Spock notices a strangeness in the people they encounter; a kind of contented mindlessness expression on their faces. Then, at six o'clock, the red hour strikes – the beginning of the Festival, a period of debauchery and lawlessness. Fleeing, the landing party bursts in on Reger, Hacom, and . They had been told by Bilar and Tula, two passersby, that Reger could rent them rooms for after Festival. Their questions seem to terrify Reger. They are given rooms and retreat from the mayhem outside, trying their best to get a few hours' sleep. The Festival ends the next morning, at six in the morning. Reger, learning the landing party did not attend Festival, concludes they are not of the Body, and asks an astonishing question: "Are you s?" The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Hacom and lawgivers, the robed servants of the mysterious Landru. The lawgivers command the landing party to accompany them to the absorption chambers, to be absorbed into "the body." Act Two Kirk, acting on a hunch, defies them – and causes confusion. He'd correctly concluded this society is built around obedience, and might not be ready for any disobedience. Taking advantage of their confusion, Reger guides the crew to a place he knows, where they will be safe. But on the way, Landru employs a form of mass telepathy to command an attack, which is easily repelled by the landing parties' phaser fire. Among the attackers is... the missing Lieutenant O'Neil. Reger warns against bringing him along, but Kirk cannot bring himself to abandon a member of his crew. He orders Leslie and Galloway to take the still-unconscious O'Neil with them over the strenuous objections of Reger. Through his tricorder, Spock discovers a source of immense power, radiating from a point near the landing party's location. Reger tells Kirk about the arrival of the first Archons: many were killed, many more were absorbed. And then he drops the bombshell, mentioning casually that Landru pulled the Archons from the sky... Kirk contacts the Enterprise, and learns that heat beams are focused on the ship. Scotty, in command of the Enterprise, reports that her shields are able to deflect them, but nearly all ship's power is diverted to this purpose. Communications are poor, escape is impossible, and the orbit is decaying. If Kirk can't put a stop to the beams, the ship will be destroyed in less than twelve hours. Worse, contacting the ship enables Landru to discover and stun the landing party with an intense sound. Act Three They awaken in a cave-like cell, but McCoy, Galloway, and O'Neil are missing. Kirk begins to think of ways to get out of their cell. He asks Spock about the lawgiver's inability to cope with the unexpected. Spock, noting that in a society as well organized as Beta III's appears to be, he cannot see how an oversight like that can go on uncorrected. He does find one thing interesting; the lawgiver's reaction to Kirk's defiance was similar to a computer's when fed insufficient data. Kirk disputes that the lawgivers are computers, not Human. Spock replies that they are quite Human, it is just that there are facts missing currently as to why they behave like computers. Soon after, McCoy and Galloway return – and they have been absorbed, with McCoy speaking similarly to the way Sulu had on the Enterprise. Evidently, this is the fate that awaits the entire landing party. Lawgivers appear, demanding Kirk accompany them, and this time, Kirk's refusal results in an immediate death threat. Spock was correct; the orderly society has now corrected a flaw. Kirk is taken to a futuristic room: the absorption chamber. There, a priest named Marplon will oversee Kirk's forcible induction into the Body. Spock attempts a Vulcan mind meld with McCoy but is unsuccessful. Lawgivers summon Spock, who is taken to the same place, and there encounters Kirk, now mindlessly happy. Act Four Spock learns that Marplon was Tamar's contact and is part of the same underground to which Reger belongs. Marplon intervened to prevent both Kirk and Spock from being absorbed, and returns their phasers to Spock. Spock, acting as instructed, makes his way back to the cell, pretending to be as mindlessly happy as Beta III's inhabitants. Discussing Landru and his society, Kirk and Spock reach the same conclusion: the society has no spirit, no spark; Landru's orders are being issued by a computer. Kirk decides the plug must be pulled. Spock is concerned this would violate the Prime Directive, but Kirk opines that the directive applies to living, growing cultures, of which this is not. When Reger and Marplon join them, Kirk demands more information: the location of Landru. Reger reveals that Beta III was at war, and was in danger of destroying itself. Landru, one of the leaders, took the people back to a simpler time. And, Marplon claims, Landru is still alive. Marplon takes Kirk and Spock, disguised as lawgivers, to a chamber, the Hall of Audiences, where Landru appears to his acolytes – or, at least, a projection of him does. There, Landru regretfully informs them that their interference is causing great harm, and that they, and all who knew of them, must be killed, to cleanse the memory of the Body. Blasting through the wall, Kirk reveals the truth: an ancient machine, built and programmed by the real Landru 6,000 years earlier before he died. This machine, now calling itself Landru, was entrusted with the care of the Body, the society of Beta III. To that end, it has enslaved all members of that society, and those who visit, in a thralldom of happiness that is stagnant and without creativity. Kirk and Spock discuss this with Landru, asking it difficult questions it has evidently never had to answer, questions about whether its approach to creating the good is really creating evil. Ultimately, they convince it that it is the evil, and that it must destroy the evil – and it does, exploding in a burst of pyrotechnics. Kirk leaves a team of specialists, including Lindstrom, to help restore the planet's culture "to a Human form". Log entries *"Captain's log, stardate 3156.2. While orbiting planet Beta III trying to find some trace of the starship ''Archon that disappeared here a hundred years ago, a search party consisting of two Enterprise officers were sent to the planet below. Mr. Sulu has returned, but in a highly agitated mental state. His condition requires I beam down with an additional search detail." *"''Captain's log, stardate 3157.4. The ''Enterprise, still under attack by some sort of heat rays from the surface of Beta III, is now being commanded by Engineering Officer Scott. The shore party has been taken by the creature called Landru." *"''Captain's log, stardate 3158.7. The ''Enterprise is preparing to leave Beta III in star system C-111. Sociologist Lindstrom is remaining behind with a party of experts who will help restore the planet's culture to a Human form." Memorable quotes "''Are you Archons? : - Reger, to Kirk and the landing party "Landru seeks tranquility. Peace for all. The universal good." : - Landru, appearing before Kirk's landing party "Come." "No." "Then you will die." : - Lawgiver and Kirk "This is a soulless society, captain. It has no spirit, no spark. All is indeed peace and tranquility – the peace of the factory; the tranquility of the machine; all parts working in unison." : - Spock, on the society run under Landru's influence "Mister Spock, the plug must be pulled." : - Kirk, on destroying Landru "Captain, our Prime Directive of non-interference." "That refers to a living, growing culture... do you think this one is?" : - Spock and Kirk, Kirk cheerfully violating the Prime Directive "I cannot answer your questions now. Landru... he will hear!" : - Marplon "Isn't that somewhat old-fashioned?" : - Kirk, after Spock punches a lawgiver "Snap out of it. Start acting like men!" : - Kirk, to Reger and Marplon "He's still alive. He's here, now. He sees, he hears. We have destroyed ourselves! Please... no more." : - Marplon, speaking about Landru "You said you wanted freedom. It's time you learned that freedom is never a gift. It has to be earned." : - Kirk, to Reger and Marplon "Without freedom of choice, there is no creativity. Without creativity, there is no life." : - Kirk, to Landru "You are the evil! The evil must be destroyed!" : - Kirk, inducing Landru's self-destruction "If I were you, I'd start looking for another job." : - Kirk, to the lawgivers "I prefer the concrete, the graspable, the provable." "You'd make a splendid computer, Mister Spock." : - Spock and Kirk "How often mankind has wished for a world as peaceful and secure as the one Landru provided." "Yes. And we never got it. Just lucky, I guess." : - Spock and Kirk Background information * This episode started out in , as a story outline by Gene Roddenberry entitled "The Perfect World" (later retitled "Paradise XML", "Visit to Paradise", and "Landru's Paradise"), which was a candidate to be the first Star Trek pilot, alongside and "The Women". After the former was chosen by NBC, Roddenberry's story idea rested for more than two years. In , freelance writer Boris Sobelman picked up Roddenberry's original story, and developed it further, retitling it "The Return of the Archons". (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One) * Bobby Clark, who leaps through a window and then cries out "Festival! Festival!" has his only speaking role in the series in this episode. A frequent stunt performer on the series, he can also be seen as one of 's vaporized henchmen in . * Some of Harry Townes' dialogue was dubbed by Walker Edmiston. Edmiston also dubbed an unnamed lawgiver, who runs into the hall of audiences after Landru was destroyed by Kirk. http://www.startrekhistory.com/vo.html * Just why Festival takes place, or how frequently it occurs, is never made entirely clear. However, in his write-up of the episode in Star Trek 9, James Blish describes Reger telling Tula as he consoles her during the aftermath, "It's over for another year." * According to the trivia section on the video release, "The Archons" was a club Gene Roddenberry belonged to at school. * This episode has the only teaser to fade out with a close-up on George Takei. The first-act opening is also unique, featuring Kirk's log narration playing over three different shots of the Enterprise in orbit around Beta III. * The absorption console that Marplon uses appears later, with modifications, as Norman's relay station in , a control panel on Memory Alpha in , the housing for the cloaking device in , and the Elba II force field control panel in . * The cell in this episode shows up later in and . * The location scenes for this episode were filmed at the in Culver City, the same place where and were shot. * Christopher Held (Lindstrom) is beaned by a softball-sized prop rock while escaping the Festival-enraged crowd, but keeps running, so as not to ruin the take. * This is the first mention of the Prime Directive. * A subplot involving Lindstrom falling in love with a local girl was cut from the episode's final draft script. * This episode marks one of four times Kirk is able to "talk a computer to death". He also talks a computer to death in , , and * This is the first episode in which Scotty assumes command of the ship. * The episode was adapted into issue nine and ten of IDW's alternate reality Star Trek: Ongoing comic series. * The preview trailer gives the stardate for this episode as 3192.1. Production timeline * Story premise "The Perfect World" in Star Trek is...: * Story outline "Paradise XML" by Gene Roddenberry: * Story outline "Landru's Paradise" by Roddenberry: * Story outline "The Return of the Archons" by Boris Sobelman: * Revised story outline: * Revised story outline by Gene L. Coon: * First draft teleplay by Sobelman: * Second draft teleplay by Sobelman: * Revised teleplay by Steven W. Carabatsos: * Final draft teleplay by Coon: * Revised final draft teleplay by Roddenberry: * Additional revisions: , , , , * Filmed: – * Original airdate: * Rerun airdate: * First UK airdate: Reception * Roddenberry picked this as one of his ten favorite episodes for the franchise's 25th anniversary. (TV Guide August 31, 1991) Video and DVD releases * Original US Betamax release: * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 12, catalog number VHR 2305, release date unknown * US VHS release: * UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.8, * Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 11, * As part of the TOS Season 1 DVD collection * As part of the TOS Season 1 HD DVD collection * As part of the TOS Season 1 Blu-ray collection Links and references Starring * William Shatner as Capt. Kirk Also starring * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock Guest stars * Harry Townes as Reger * Torin Thatcher as Marplon * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Featuring * Brioni Farrell as Tula * Sid Haig as First Lawgiver * Charles Macauley as Landru * Jon Lormer as * Morgan Farley as Hacom ;And * Christopher Held as With * George Takei as Sulu * James Doohan as Scott * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Sean Morgan as O'Neil * Ralph Maurer as Bilar * David L. Ross as a guard Uncredited co-stars * William Blackburn as Hadley * Bobby Clark as a shrieking townsperson * Frank da Vinci as Brent * Walker Edmiston as Third Lawgiver (voice) http://www.startrekhistory.com/vo.html * Eddie Paskey as Leslie * Barbara Webber as a dancing woman * Unknown actors as ** Osborne ** Transporter assistant ** Second Lawgiver ** Fourth Lawgiver ** Attacking Betans ** Festival attendees ** Betan male 2 ** Betan female 2 ** Betan female 3 Stunt double * Bobby Clark as the stunt double for Ross References 6,000 years before; 2167; absorption; antenna; ; s; Beta III; Body, the; "Bones"; C-111 system; crime; emergency bypass circuit; factory; Festival; Hall of Audiences; headache; heat rays; hypersonic pulse; lawgiver; lighting panel; logic; lovers' quarrel; metaphysics; Prime Directive; prophecy; red hour; sociology; Stone Age; telepathy; The Valley; Vulcan neck pinch; war External links * * * * |next= |lastair= |nextair= |lastair_remastered= |nextair_remastered= }} de:Landru und die Ewigkeit es:The Return of the Archons fr:The Return of the Archons (épisode) it:Il ritorno degli Arconti (episodio) ja:ベータ・スリーの独裁者（エピソード） nl:The Return of the Archons pl:The Return of the Archons Return of the Archons, The